Food For Thought

After watching Food Inc. by Robert Kenner, like many students in our class, I was a bit taken back by the process in which Americans get their food. Over the past few decades, with the increasing technology and machinery that makes it more and more efficient to produce great amounts of food, we seem to be forgetting about the important factors involved in the process such as the small farm owners, the environmental impacts, the humane treatment of animals, and the overall health of the food we are getting.
I did not like everything about Food Inc. as a whole, but it certainly does a great job in portraying the secrecy and corruptness in the food industry, specifically the relationship between big business and the government’s favorable policies toward them. I was most taken back by the shrinking number of slaughter houses in the United States (from hundreds just decades ago to under a dozen now) and the fact that 10 billion animals are killed each year in the United States as a result of “factory farming.” This brings up the point that Americans are eating too much meat per person and therefore the quality of it is certainly not up to par. My parents always say that when they were growing up, they would eat meat maybe once or twice a week, and nowadays I usually don’t go a single day without eating it. As Food Inc. points out, the reason for this is these enormous food companies like Monsanto and Tyson that can produce mass amounts of meat at a relatively cheap price. The average burger may not be good quality, good for the environment, from a single cow, or helpful to farmers, but it is still cheap. And for most people, that is all that really matters. Personally, I think that this is how the system will stay, but there is no question that it has its flaws. I think that for us to really change the system to benefit small farmers like the one in Food Inc. who hangs around with the pigs all day and hand kills the chickens, it would cost a lot more money in the end to go to the grocery store and buy meat. This would mean that a smaller number of people could afford it, or everyone would have to pay higher taxes to support the non corporate farmers (which would be nearly impossible in today’s economy).
For now, I think we need to focus on the little things as individuals that can help make changes over time on a larger scale. As Food Inc. encourages, it is important that we support local farmers and do not just rely on most food that travels an average of 1,500 miles to the grocery store. Buying organic foods, food from farmer’s markets, and not eating a lot of fast food are a few steps that most people can afford to take for a healthier lifestyle and also supports the backbone of America: the farmers.

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